MEET OUR PIGS
The gingery, reddish-brown pig you see before you is a Tamworth.

Originally bred the midlands of the UK – the town of Tamworth, to be exact – its ancestors descend from “the Old English forest pig;” that is, from Europe’s native wild boars. This is why, unlike most conventional swine (with the short snout and fat profile from their Asian lineage), it’s long-snouted and fairly lean, like its indigenous European ancestors.

In fact, Tamworths are one of the oldest breeds of pigs around.

As such, they’re not well suited to modern factory practices. Since factory now constitutes most of the industry, that means Tamworths are listed by the Rare Breeds Survivial Trust as “at risk.”

When given a more down-to-earth lifestyle, though, they’re actually hardy, active and adaptable. They know what a forest is good for: digging, rooting and roaming. They’re efficient excavators on pasture reclamation projects. They make excellent mothers, and their piglets acclimate to human contact easily. As meat animals, Tamworths have lots of mass and little fat: quality pork; great bacon.

In short, like other heritage breeds, they just need a natural life in order to thrive.

Happy piglets!

At Healing Ponds Farm, we have a drove of four Tamworths: Apple and Alfalfa (the ladies), and Adam and Arnie (their partners). They live on two acres of grass and woodland; we rotate them as needed to keep the pasture green. (Pigs aren’t ones to live lightly. Without rotation, things get muddy.)

In addition to their own foraging, we feed them clabber, too (raw cultured milk – like crème fraîche).

They’re only three to four months old now, but they’re growing fast and settling in nicely. When they’re ready, we’ll be breeding them. Some of the little ones we’ll sell as babies; others we’ll raise and sell as meat.